After months of preparation, the FFA is putting on their annual plant sale. The majority of the plants being sold are flowers and hanging baskets, and there will be around 400 hanging baskets available, the largest reaching three feet in diameter. Zucchini, tomatillos, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers will also be available for purchase. The sale will be going on April 30 through May 2.

FFA adviser and horticulture teacher Dan Ellwood has been in charge of the plant sale for more than 13 years. The sale itself has been a WHS tradition for over 20 years.

The plant sale is not unique to WHS; Eastmont and Cashmere have a plant sale as well, and at a similar time. But according to Ellwood, there isn’t too much competition between the plant sales, and feels that the Wenatchee FFA plant sale is superior.

“We’ve got it down to a science,” Ellwood said. “The quality of the stuff that we grow is pretty dang good.”

The plant sale is a year-round project and planning for the next year begins immediately after the plant sale concludes.

“The sale is analyzed so that next year will be even more profitable and successful,” Ellwood said.

“We start [growing] in December, but a lot of the work that makes us profitable starts two weeks after the plant sale,” Ellwood said. “We go through and we analyze every product and determine whether or not we should bring it back for next year. Was it a good product? Did we sell it all? Did we order too much? Did we not order enough? Should we change colors? Every year we want to bring in something new, and something has to go.”

The majority of the plants for this sale are shipped as young seedlings from Southern California. Seedlings arrive in the WHS greenhouses around December. There have been attempts at starting FFA’s own seeds, but with limited success.

The plant sale is run as a cooperative, with the students who work growing the plants getting a fraction of the profits. The net goal for this year is $25,000. Last year’s net was around $23,900. According to Ellwood, the plant sale has been increasing profits eight years in a row.

Unlike many clubs, students actually get a share of the profits generated by the fundraiser.

“[The students] will get a share of the profits for every hour they put in. [We usually profit] $12,000 to $14,000. Many times kids will get between $150 and $300,” Ellwood said.